Verbatim report of proceedings

Tuesday, 27 October 2015 - Strasbourg

European single market for electronic communications (A8-0300/2015 - Pilar del Castillo Vera)

  Emma McClarkin (ECR), in writing. ‒ Whilst I voted today in favour of the Telecommunications package, and I welcome the ending of mobile roaming, I am disappointed with the lack of appreciation for the role of network parental controls under these net neutrality rules.

Although there is a window in which national legislation can be put in place to avoid an EU blanket prohibition on these tools, it is disappointing to see that the EU has once again overreached and put itself at odds with a tool that parents desperately need in today’s digital world to protect their children online.

Fifty-four percent of UK parents operate such controls, and the EU has once more sent a message that they know what is best for their children.

We must enable families and parents to monitor and safeguard their children from dangers online. Parents should retain the right to choose what appropriate content is through parental controls. We must not cast parents as the threat, but rather embrace these tools as a potential solution to online dangers. This is a reasonable and flexible security mechanism.